Native American Creation Story

Native American and European Traditions The English people who first immigrated to America slaughtered the Native Americans to near extinction because they thought the Indians were savages, but just how different, or similar, were the two groups. Both the Indians and Europeans had their own versions of a creation story, and they each had a sort of government that included a constitution. Between the two groups there are distinct comparisons and contrasts within the creation stories of the Indians, “The Sky Tree”, and “How the World was Made”, and the creation story of the bible in the book of “Genesis” as well as comparisons and contrasts between the two civic documents, The Iroquois Constitution, and The articles of the constitution of the …show more content…
For instance, the Indians creation stories they start with the Earth pre-created. As an example, in the book of “Genesis” it reads “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Or how in “How the World Was made” it says, “The earth is a great floating island in a sea of water.” Also, “The Sky Tree” reports, “In the beginning Earth was covered with water.” Another thing the stories seem to disagree about is how humans came to be. “The Sky Tree” talks about how, “In Sky Land, there were people living as they do now on Earth.” But in “How the World Was Made” it says, “After the plants and animals, men began to come to earth.” And the book of “Genesis” journals, “God said, let us make man in our image.” Another thing the stories cannot seem to agree on is the food that was eaten by the humans. For instance, for the humans in “The Sky Tree”, “All of the food which the people in that sky land at came from the great tree.” But in “How the World Was Made” humans were “… to kill and eat the birds and animals which must sleep during the night.” However, in the book of “Genesis” God said, “… ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herbs, yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their …show more content…
The main thing for the Iroquois about clans and lineage said “Among the Five Nations and their posterity there shall be the following original clans… The lineal descent of the people of the Five Nations shall run in the female line.” However, the American constitution does not mention clans and lineage but talks about the “separation of power.” Another difference was the protection of religion; the Iroquois protected religion much more than the American constitution. The Iroquois constitution said that, “The rites and festivals of each nation shall remain undisturbed and shall continue as before.” Whilst the only thing that the American constitution says about religion is, “separation of church and state.” Another primary difference between the two constitutions was the gender roles, the Iroquois talked about what a women’s rights were much more than the American Constitution. In fact, the American constitution doesn’t mention women’s rights at all. Whilst the Iroquois constitution records, “Women shall be considered the progenitors of the nation. They shall own the land and the soil. Men and women shall follow the status of the